Guns And Legends
by MissPsychedelic
Summary: A story set milleniums after, Vincent Valentine suddenly realizes that Fate has more plans for him when he encounters familiar faces...Rated M for sensitive issues, swearing, ethics.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** This is a somewhat literature adaptation from this Final Fantasy VII doujinshi that I have been working on, feel free to checkout my webcomic if you have the time gunsandlegends. Smackjeeves. This story is very descriptive at times so you've been warned ;)

* * *

**PreChapter**

_Solitude._

_Again, I faced this empty world._

_Decades had passed like fleeting moths._

_I watched them aged and passed away; the mortal members once known as The Avalanche, a rebellion group I was once part of. I had took the burden to guide their children and grandchildren and great grandchildren. _

_I felt I had the duty to make sure they lead a good life and I had kept to that discipline in the generations to come. Making sure that no harm came to them…_

_And that Jenova was truly, positively, gone._

_But as the world forgot about ShinRa, Mako and the Avalanche group, my role is being forgotten._

_I was feared and shunned by society. And slowly, I crept back to my old self._

_Millennias have passed; God became civilization's main creator of this planet. Great and terrible wars brokeout and spread like wild fire. All because of the conflict of beliefs that cities and villages were burnt to the ground and lives lay wasted in their barren homelands. Humanity has become so stupidly foolish in their quest for more power that they wished to surpass their own creation of God. If it was not the plague, it would be the natural disaster, if it was not for the natural disaster then it would be their own creation that destroyed them. Nuclear warfare._

_Now the Planet could not shed tears no more, water has become scarce and deserts occupied almost three quarter of the lifeless sphere. Civilization picked itself up again, slowly this time._

_I wandered endlessly, a hermit and nothing more. Everything that I once had, had been destroyed by time and it would not be long before I too, will follow as well. A monster that had not taken any life force for so many thousands of years, will eventually aged and died just like a human being. _

_Finally my time has come…_

_Will I finally be able to meet the others….?_

_No…how foolish my thinking is…_

_I will return to the Lifestream… _


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1: Not human**

It was the smell of petroleum.

No.

It was the sound of hard thick wheels that grind mercilessly on the desert sands.

Wait.

It was the voices that wreck endlessly in the darkness.

What about the voices…

"Yo, old man, wake up already." There was a man standing near him.

"Has he awaken yet?" Another man a little further to his side.

"Looks like it."

Something jerked suddenly.

"Woah! Slow down yer driving will ya? Yer in a hurry to piss or what?"

"Who ya telling to drive foo! I ain't listening to nobody who tells me how to drive this shit." Another voice came, this time a bit more further from the two and he's craning his neck to talk to the two.

"Hey that's my baby yer talking about! Apologise to her!"

"Like hell I'm gonna say sorry to truck, why not you drive her!"

"FYI it's an 18 wheeler truck moron. And I can't drive with my left arm like this."

"That's your fault that you got yourself shot dammit!"

Too noisy.

Vincent placed a hand to his head as he got up from his lying position. He was lying on a metallic table. The room he is in was dark except for a bluish white light somewhere to his left. Everything in his vision is blurry and watery, and his sight hadn't grown accustomed to the darkness yet. His whole body was aching, the joints felt like dried rusty hinges and his head swayed slightly.

"Coulda blown the guy's head off."

"Yeah right, Cloud will kill ya before ya do. We're not gonna get that nice bounty if the guy's dead."

His eyes focused as he looked at the man standing near him, cropped messy blond hair that spiked backwards, he wore a dark sleeveless top and baggy pants. His left arm was bandaged and it was staining and dirty. There was the smell of tobacco coming out of his mouth. The man near to him had his back facing; he wore a white long coat and his silver hair was tied in a pony tail.

Silver?

"Hey Doctor, wan me to strip now?" He walked past the man in white coat.

The man turned slightly to the other, his green eyes bore darkly behind the glasses he wore as he spoke in a monotone voice. "Just sit there and stay, Highwind." He turned around, holding one clipboard in one hand and scribbling something with the other. He noticed Vincent looking at him. "Hmm. You're awake. Cloud! We're reaching in ten minutes, get yourself suit up!" He called out to the ceiling.

"Hey Cloud can we kill the next one?" The bandaged arm man snickered.

"No means NO!" Cloud's voice could be heard, sounds of water rushing and then footsteps appearing closer as a figure came down through the stairs. Vincent hadn't realised that this vehicle is a two storey build.

"Brother." Cloud had one towel in his hand that he used to wipe his face. "How much is this bounty again?"

"3 million gils." The Doctor replied. "We can buy that fuel and it will last at least a good six months."

"What…" Vincent's voice cracked. "…are you people."

"Who's he, bro?" Cloud rubbed his eyes and stifled a yawn.

"Found the old man sunbathing while we were passing through. Barret almost ran him over cos he can't see him in broad daylight." The bandaged arm man snickered.

"Did not!" bellowed the driver.

"Did too!"

"Cid…" Cloud rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry for the confusion Sir." The Doctor spoke to Vincent. "We'll be making a short stopover after which, you will be safely dropped off at the nearest town."

Vincent nodded.

"Pfft…the old man's lucky that the Doctor is around. Almost kicked the bucket too." Cid tittered.

"5 minutes!" Barret bellowed.

"Right, I'll get ready." Cloud ran back upstairs.

_Half an hour later…_

Vincent had accustomed most to his surroundings; the walls were metallic and there was hint of medical and mechanical smell to it although he was not sure of what. He had spent the last few millenias wandering around in the desert dunes and hidden thus he had lost touched with any sense of civilization. He only knew of terms that came from the last one; where countries such as America and Britain existed and there was such a thing called internet. Even then, he existed and moved around in the shadows, only managing to survive in the economical world with the help of a few strangers.

Vincent looked around; the man known as Doctor was sitting in a chair with his back facing to it. Vincent looked at his hand, the gloves were ragged and almost torned apart. What he wore now was from the civilization before, his old outfit had turned to rags and shreds and so was his armour. Even if any of the Avalanche members were to see him, they wouldn't recognize him as the Vincent Valentine who was an ex-Turk and professional gunner.

'_I am an old and wrinkled man now.' _He quietly snickered to himself.

"So what are you doing out in this desert and all by yourself?" The Doctor turned to look at Vincent with his arms crossed.

"I don't remember…" Vincent spoke as he continued to look at his hand; he was lying of course but not that the Doctor would notice since naturally anyone who appeared of this age would have little memory of what they were doing.

The Doctor paused then sighed as he shifted his attention to the computer, "Well your readings seemed fine for a man of your age. You were dehydrated and exhausted that's all. But your hand…"

Vincent waited.

"I did a thorough scan of your left hand when you were out." He tapped on the keyboard and a window opened showing what looked like a thermal and muscle scanner of sort. "It doesn't look good."

Vincent knew what he meant. "I was experimented on…" He trailed off. "A long time ago."

"Hmm…" The Doctor turned to look at Vincent again.

"Bounty hunters." Vincent finally found the word that he was looking for at the back of his mind. He looked up to see the Doctor. "You are all bounty hunters aren't you?"

"Yes." The Doctor nodded. "It's one of the fastest way to make a decent living in this barren wasteland. And the fastest way to die too."

"Are there any thriving towns here?"

"Yeah." The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "You've been out in the desert for way too long Sir."

"I wish I knew how long." Vincent said. "I take it that your group here has been doing this for quite some time then. Seeing all this equipment here."

"We're not exactly the best." He was being modest. "But we manage to get by." The strange old man seemed not like the senile type. The way he carried out the conversation and the manner he spoke… The Doctor opened another window in the computer. "You know, that arm of yours. It's troublesome for you to move around in. I can make a little fix for you with this armour. It's child's play so you don't have to worry about the cost at all."

"I appreciate your offer but…"

Another window popped up and a voice spoke: "Yo, bro." It was Cloud.

The Doctor plugged a cable out and inserted another in. A machine connected to it hummed to life as red and green lights flickered and blink before it remained stationary. "Bad news man, we came to the place and there was blood everywhere!"

"What? Someone else got to them first?"

"Don't think it's the work of another group. We manage to find one survivor but I doubt he's going to make it."

"Damn it…this is the sixth time."

"Shit, this place looks like some big assed monster just went for a buffet spree." Cid's voice could be heard from the radio.

"We found some fluid residue; I think it's the monster's blood. I'm sending over the sample to you now." Cloud spoke.

Another window popped out and Vincent watched as the Doctor typed the password to gain entry to the samples.

"Hey Cloud, the guy's going looney." Cid called out.

"What?" Cloud asked.

Vincent watched as the download window became complete and another window popped out. It was the sample that Cloud had wanted to send over. The Doctor leaned back against the chair and crossed his arms as he peered into the image. "Interesting biological makeup."

But Vincent knew what it was. His eyes widened.

A heavy concentration of Mako would show the same manner of how the blood cells were heavily distorted by the chemicals. And only pure Mako would cause something like that.

After all these millenias…

Someone is still manipulating the Mako.

_Planets no…_

Back at the mountainous valleys, Cid was helplessly trying to do something to the only survivor of the massacre. Yet all three were clueless as to what was going on. Sure they had seen their share of monsters when they travelled around but in these parts of the deserts, the sandworms should be a piece of cake for the fifty armed Loki bandits that have a bounty of 3 million for robbing ten towns.

Cid continued to stare at the survivor, he scratched his head as he tried to figure out which wound needs bandaging. "How the hell did the doctor do…" He muttered. Surely the most logical thing is that the biggest wound should be wrapped up first and it happened to be on the chest…But the width of the bandage he had was small and it was only enough to wrap one arm…

"What? The old man vanished? And he took one of the prototype guns with him?" Cloud's voice rang out.

"Hey, hey quiet over there!" Cid snapped. "I'm trying to wrap this guy up."

"Brother said you're not supposed to use your own bandages or it will spread infection." Cloud said.

"My blood is not infectious!" Cid retorted.

The survivor suddenly jerked. "Argh!!"

Cid spun around and saw the man ripped to pieces as jagged rocks pierced through him from behind, his cigarette dropped as he scrambled to his feet. The area quaked and a large sandworm burst out and swallowed the body.

"Holy…!" Cid scrambled for support as the ground beneath him raised and he realised that there was a sandworm emerging from below him. Luckily for him, it turns out he was standing on top of its head.

Cloud lowered his body as he felt the ground beneath him shot upwards. He was standing on the sandworm's head too. Both arms dived beneath his coat and pulled out the two long gun blades that were strapped to his back.

The monster howled as loud blasts drilled repeatedly to its skull and blood stained the air. Cloud leapt up high into the air as the monster's dead body plunge to the ground, his hand caught the ledge of the rocky sides of the mountains and he pulled himself to stable ground. Cid was on top as well, and he was firing mercilessly at the monsters.

"Where's Barret?" Cloud yelled over the howling and ground shaking chaos.

Another loud explosion rang out and Cid and Cloud turned to the source. A giant dead sandworm lay on the ground with its head blown off, Barret was moving away from it and trying not to get chased by anymore sandworms.

"Cid, I'm going down to get Barret." Cloud leapt and dived down.

"Urgh!" came a sound. Cid turned and found the old man leaning heavily against the walls some distance away from where Cid was. He was clutching his right hand and wincing in pain. And he was holding the prototype gun that Barret was still fixing the other night because the shot was too powerful that the user might bust his own arm.

He didn't have time to think how the old man was able to get there in the first place; he leapt and bound from one solid footing to the other until he reached the old man.

"How stupid and senile can you be old man?" Cid snapped as he held him just as the old man was about to collapse. "Let me see your arm."

"Shit…" Cid muttered when he noticed the bones had fractured and the skin had turned dark bluish. A huge shadow loomed over him as he realised another gigantic sandworm had appeared before them. Cid cursed.

A loud crash echoed throughout the valley, Cloud and Barret turned to see rocks and gravel showered the skies. They had managed to get into hiding and were busy preparing the bombs to detonate the whole place.

"Ya think he's dead?" Barret ask.

"God hates him, so Cid's still stuck with us until He changed his mind." Cloud strapped the last of the bombs in place.

"Damn." Barret muttered as he peered through the eye scope of his arm gun.

"SHIT! We almost got ourselves freaking killed!" Cid continued his verbal cursing; his body was heavily pressed against the walls as he was using the shadows of the small cave to hide the both of them. When the sandworm had lunged for them, Cid quickly grabbed the old man and bound mid air and landed on the head of another sandworm. He then quickly leapt high up and continued to jump and avoid the snapping jaws of passing sandworms until his eyes caught a small cave on the sides of the mountain. From there he managed to squeeze both him and the old man into it.

"Pfft…looks like the sandworms are blind. They can't even smell well too." Cid mumbled. "Well lucky me…"

"You are bleeding…" The old man muttered.

"Ain't that right." Cid continued to look out of the entrance of the cave, one hand still held the rifle firmly. "I thought the quack said I'll heal in no time."

"Yes the wound is not deep but you will catch a virus if you removed the bandages."

"Like hell I know, I'm not a freaking nurse."

Suddenly he felt faint. Something was not right. Cid felt his energy abruptly depleted. His hand dropped the weapon he was holding. The next thing he knew, he saw the old man standing and walking straight up.

"What…what did…you do…" Cid struggled to keep himself up.

"I took a small part of your energy. I am in your debt Highwind." The voice no longer cracked as Vincent walked towards the entrance of the cave.

"What…are you…" Cid shook his head to clear off the dizziness.

"What am I…" Vincent turned to face Cid as he gripped the prototype gun he was holding. "I am not human." With that, Vincent stepped out of the ledge and plunge into the depths of the mountain.

The only sounds that can be heard were loud explosions that rang throughout and the monsters howling in pain.

* * *

**A/N: **Yes I know there's many things that isn't right but there is a VERY GOOD REASON and it lies in the later plot lines so bear with me. Yaaa 


	3. Chapter 3

**Another Circle**

****

_The sound becomes crystal..._

_Gravel stones, shattered minerals cascade down the rocky valleys like a torrent rocky version of a waterfall._

_The ground hundreds of meter below shifted uneasily as a sandworm burrows underneath it._

_All around me, the soundwaves of giant sandworms rippling out and bouncing from one rocky surface to another._

_Behind closed eyelids, these sounds already paint a bright clear picture in my mind._

_The winds are warm and cold as they rushed past my skin from below._

_This lull moment of peace that I enjoyed._

_Diving down the mountain from a height of a thousand meters never felt so refreshing._

My hand was already raised before my eyes were open when the sounds of a sandworm dived towards my direction. My finger pulls the trigger and the shot creates a hole in the sandworm's mouth.The mechanics of the prototype gun activates and reloads in a fraction of a milisecond. More sandworms hovered below me and a simple twist on the upper body, a sharp rotation in the shoulder and my dive angled closer to the walls of the valley where I raised my legs and pushed myself horizontally and landed on the back of one sandworm.

I ended five sandworms before finishing off the one I was riding on. There was indeed alot of these sandworms in these valleys, though I used this opportunity to literally stretch ancient muscles and test my senses, nevertheless my mind nagged that there are matters I have to see to. Winding my leg muscles, I leapt towards the source of sound I was tuning into.

Cloud had his back faced to me as I propel towards their direction. Barret was busy aiming his arm cannon to the sandworms below. Yes as soon as I landed on the ground they were standing on, Cloud had already raised his sword and facing me. He was a picture of calm but the look of his blue eyes held no hesitation to strike. His hair was almost a deep dark blue, a darker shade than his eyes and his hairstyle seemed to bore some resemblance of the Cloud Strife I knew millenias ago.

"Let me help." I said.

He did not say a word; merely stood facing me in silence, his blade never wavering against the strong winds. Barret had turned and spotted me as well but he casually turned back to continue firing at the sandworms below. Such was his confidence that Cloud could handle me easily if I should pose a threat.

"Let's go." Cloud said as he leapt off the ledge.

I followed suit.

_An hour later_

What was once stood valleys and moutainous sections that towered over the deserted wastelands now lies a rubbled heap of low lying hills with bloodied sandworms. Cid, Cloud, Barret and I walked back for a whole stretch of silence; I had felt very much awkward though showed no inclination to my discomfort. Cid continued sucking his cigarette without much reaction to the fact I had draw out blood from his open wound to regain my energy. Surprised that tobacco still exists in this time. Barret was non-chalant and sometimes I wonder whether he really had any reason to worry. Cloud did not even questioned me.

"What the...?" Cloud's voice broke the silence and we stopped in our tracks.

Right before us where the eighteen wheeler truck stood, lay other bodies of sandworms sprawled around the vehicle.Cid uttered a curse word under his breath. The sound of footsteps from the other side of the vehicle became apparent and a shadow stretches out before us and a long sword, the all too familiar slim metal blade gleamed under the sunlight.

"Brother!" Cloud rushed over as the Doctor appeared, his long silvery hair freely dancing in the wind. "Are you alright?"

His green eyes almost flashed as they watched me.

_Sephiroth..._

_Nibelheim..._

_Hojo..._

And then...I see nothing.


End file.
